Houston Rockets: Danuel House is morphing into a valuable asset

Danuel House is carving out a role in the Houston Rockets rotation with consistent play along the wings. Here’s how he’s morphed himself into an asset.

Danuel House has had a winding path to the NBA and his journey to consistent playing time likely isn’t anywhere close from being finished but it seems a door is opening with the Houston Rockets. Following his departure from leaving Texas A&M, he went undrafted but caught on with the Wizards G League affiliate.

He ended his rookie season making an appearance in one NBA game. The following season, 2017-18, he bounced around a little bit before ending the season in Pheonix where he finally was able to find some regular playing time.

Following that stint ending the season with the Suns, he signed on with the Houston Rockets Summer League squad. He performed pretty well which led the Rockets to extend a contract to the young wing. However, he didn’t make the squad to start the season and wound up with the Warriors for a brief stint before ultimately making his way back to the Rockets.

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He signed a one year deal with the Houston Rockets to return to the team following the aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony experiment. However, with Gary Clark playing well and earning a three-year deal, House was released and subsequently signed to a two-way deal with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

However, since then, House has been playing at a high level at a position that the Houston Rockets desperately need depth at. It seems the more the Rockets play him and show confidence in his ability, the better he has gotten. Though injuries to Chris Paul and James Ennis have definitely played a part in his six consecutive starts, he has proved it to be a wise decision.

For the season, House has been playing about half of the game. Per 36 minutes, he is averaging over 13 points per game and over five rebounds per game to go with about one steal and assist and half a block. Even better, he’s been highly efficient shooting 47.1% from the field, 35.5% from three, and a remarkable 70.6% from two.

That middle stat is an extremely important one and a huge part to how he’s morphing himself into a valuable asset and solid contributor for the Houston Rockets. As with most players, House has the freedom to shoot as many threes as he can in a game. He hasn’t necessarily been afraid of shooting them in the past but having the confidence of a team behind you can do wonders.

House is shooting a career-high six attempts per 36 minutes from three but he is also knocking down a career-high 2.1 threes per game. The Rockets have been missing three-point production from the wings since the departure of Trevor Ariza and House is helping fill that void.

Beyond that, House has also helped out the team tremendously on defense. When he steps on the court, he provides tremendous length and athleticism, two of the main tenants of Jeff Bzdelik’s system. On top of that, House always gives great effort as he plays with a large chip on his shoulder after being bypassed so many times in his brief career.

His impact doesn’t show up in the counting stats but he is an animal on the defense side of the court, being able to shift between four, maybe five, positions depending on the opponent. He constantly harasses his man and never gives up on a play. His 104 defensive rating is among the tops on the team.

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In order to get solid consistent minutes on the Houston Rockets, you need to be able to shoot threes and make them at an efficient clip and play switch defense. House has been able to do both of those at a high level this season, a point exacerbated by his play when in the starting line up.

House is still on a two-way contract with the Rockets and the Vipers. He only has a couple weeks left on that contract before it becomes a guaranteed one year deal. To this writer, House deserves that contract bump just as he deserves his spot in this rotation.

The Houston Rockets desperately need depth on the wings and a three-and-d player on the rise like House is a perfect fit. Even as the team inevitably gets healthier down the road, House, having morphed himself into a valuable asset, needs to remain in the rotation, plain and simple.

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Since being inserted in the starting lineup for the Houston Rockets the past six games, House is averaging about 12 points, nearly 5 rebounds, and almost 2 assists per game. On top of that, his defense has been outstanding and relentless while consistently drawing tough assignments.

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